Not Able To Deal
by jaseywantsthiseasy
Summary: Katherine 'Plumber' Pulitzer was not keen on finding her soulmate. At least before she met Jack Kelly.


**Title:** Not Able To Deal

 **Summary** : Katherine 'Plumber' Pulitzer was not keen on finding her soulmate. At least before she met Jack Kelly.

 **Pairing** : Jack Kelly\Katherine Plumber Pulitzer

 **Author:** jaseywantsthiseasy

 **Warnings** : Alternative Universe, Soulmates

 **Disclaimer** : Newsies isn't mine, unfortunately.

 **A/N:** First Newsies' work, and it's already a cliché one. Oh you for reading, and leave a kudos or a comment if you liked it, please!

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 **Not Able To Deal**

Katherine 'Plumber' Pulitzer was not keen on finding her soulmate. The main reason was that she found all the 'soulmate-business' very unfair. What if the man or the woman she loved was not her soulmate? Did she really have that little of say in the matter?

Yes, her friend Davey had been lucky. Yes, he and Crutchie were the reason she still believed in love. But what if she was not so lucky?

Hence, she was absolutely terrified when the letters appeared on her left hip at the age of eighteen; however, she soon forgot them thanks to her hard work in the college newspaper. She started writing with her byline, the name she wrote under, 'Plumber', so no one could associate her name with her father's. And this last fact was utterly brilliant to her. Even so, the words on her hip were still very intriguing even if a little too flirty for her tastes.

So she was totally unprepared when Jack Kelly bursted into her life.

Everyone knew him. He was like a popular ghost to Katherine, which had never seen the boy. Jack Kelly was the name you heard in everyone's mouth, after a party in some fraternity. Jack Kelly was the name a girl whispered to another, giggling. Hell, Jack Kelly was even famous in the college newsroom! He and his friends helped spreading their newspaper to every single student in the campus; for this reason, they were jokingly called "the Newsies". Ironically, Davey and Crutchie were Jack's best friends, and yet she had never met him.

Or, at least, before that day.

It was the worse day of the year in Katherine's opinion. The only people present in the newsroom were her, being the managing editor, and Davey.

She was dramatically, extremely, significantly distressed. It was the day before publishing, she had to finish her goddamn article, and her computer didn't seem to be able to work.

On the verge of tears, she wrote the final draft on Davey's laptop, while editing the layout of the front page. She was frantic, disheveled, and quite sure she also had too many coffees. Davey sent her various worried glances while brewing her seventh coffee; he knew that such amount of coffee was not healthy, but Katherine Pulitzer could be really scary if not provided with caffeine. Once, she was so caffeine deprived that she threatened Davey to burn all of his books if not provided of coffee anytime soon. Hence, yes, Katherine needed coffee to function like a normal human being.

The journalist suppressed a groan when she realized how many typos she had made; she literally had no time, and, in addition, her hip burned like hell. She heard then Davey clearing his throat.

"Don't you think it's time to pack up and go home?" he asked, tentatively. She sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"Just two more lines, Davey, I swear." She answered him softly. "Don't worry about me, though. I know you have a date with your boyfriend," she added, winking at him.

Davey laughed. "Oh, don't worry about that, Kath. He is coming here to check on us," he said slyly. "Along with Jack."

Katherine raised an eyebrow, perplexed. What did Jack Kelly want from the newsroom at that hour?

Davey snickered quietly, drinking his coffee.

After five minutes of silence, the door opened with a croak. Katherine didn't move her eyes from the screen, but heard Crutchie walking inside the room and also the footsteps of someone else.

"Hey, love." Greeted Davey, kissing his boyfriend on the cheek. Crutchie blushed slightly, but smiled softly. "How's it going, Jack?" he asked to someone on his boyfriend's side.

"Hello, Crutchie." Greeted also Katherine, behind the computer.

And then she heard a loud whistle.

"I'd be delighted to deliver the paper to you personally, lady." A new voice said.

In the heat of the moment, Katherine did not even process those words properly. Instead of being surprised, her witty tongue made its appearance.

"Here's a headline for you: cheeky boy gets nothing for his troubles." She replied ironically, not even bothering to lift her eyes from her article.

She realized what happened just two minutes after. Her hip burned so much, b _ut it couldn't be…_

Katherine lifted her eyes from her computer to Jack Kelly, the boy who was just as surprised as she was.

Jack's hand was on his right hip, where probably his soulmate tattoo was, and he was staring at her with mesmerized eyes.

The writer definitely appreciated what she saw: a strong jaw, brilliant and brown eyes, and unruly light brown hair under a newsie cap. His body seemed strong and well trained, even if not very tall. In some remote angle of her mind, she was totally checking him out. However, Katherine couldn't let this happen. Not now.

She stared him, mouth loose. Then she retrieved her ability to speak.

"Nope. No. I can't deal with this right now. Nah." She said to herself, shaking her head. Jack raised an eyebrow, confused. After some moment of silence, she turned sharply to him.

"You." She pointed and glared at him. "You sit down." She ordered him.

Jack complied, surprised.

"I have to finish this article, and you _really_ couldn't choose a worst moment to show up. Hence, now you sit down, play with your phone or whatever, and then we'll talk." She concluded, sitting down again at her desk and starting typing again.

Jack chuckled slightly and started searching for something in his backpack. He took a sketchpad and a pencil out; then he started sketching with vigor and energy. He felt energized and inspired for once. He drew and drew, taking pauses just to observe his newly found inspiration.

Davey and Crutchie left the room quietly, hand in hand, smiling widely.

After twenty minutes of typing and reviewing her article, Katherine threw a look at Jack.

"What are you drawing" she asked, puzzled. He smiled and showed her his drawing. It was a portrait of Katherine.

She felt her heart melting.

 _Oh, shit._ Katherine Pulitzer was not able to deal with this.

Some weeks after, Katherine entered the newsroom with Jack, and Davey could swear that he had seen them holding hands.


End file.
